Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic KX-TG5230M GigaRange Supreme 5.8 GHz DSS Expandable Cordless Phone

I really liked this phone, it has a lot going for it. However, as other folks noted on here, the handset was useless when I got within 5 feet of the base. Useless!!! At one point I was dialing a number on the handset, and right in the middle of connecting the phone shut off without completing the call at all. Other times when on the handset and sitting at my desk (near the base unit) people said they couldn't understand me at all. Since I need a phone that works while sitting at my desk, I reluctantly had to return this unit.

I purchased a Motorola MD-671, which has no problems with the handset operating near the base unit. For the benefit of other readers, I'll do a compare and contrast of these two phones, as from what I found, if you want a cordless 5.8g phone to use with phone company provided voicemail (as opposed to the digital answering machinge option) then these two models are probably what you want to choose from. To put my review in perspective, I use my phone for my home office. I spend hours at a time on conference calls. This means I need a phone where I can put the base unit on my desk, next to my computer, and it must have a speaker in the base and handset. Most of the time I am sitting at my desk, but the handset has to be able to travel with me around my house, and also must have a speaker in it.

First, I like the panasonic's big number buttons on the base unit. It really makes it easy to dial numbers. The Motorola has very small keypad and is much harder see.

Next, the Panasonic has a nice button that lets you access your voicemail with a single press, allowing you to program your local access number into the phone. One press and it turns speaker phone on and dials into your voicemail. really nice. The motorola doesn't have this option, leaving you to manually dial your vm account. Both systems have a vm light that notifies you when you have vm, both on the base and handset.

The panasonic offers you four different, pleasing songs to choose from for the ringer tone, while the motorola only offers different pitches of the same ring tone - no songs at all. Also, the panasonic default is for both the base and handset to play (ring) with incoming calls. Quite a cacophony when the handset is charging in the base, as they are both going off at the same time, slightly out of synch with each other. The first thing I did was look for a way to shut-off the base ringer. There is none! You can only turn off the handset. I would have preferred the ability to turn of the base (wherever the handset is, I will be, whereas not true with the base). The Motorola does not have this problem, as when the handset is in the cradle only the base rings.

Panasonic has no backup battery charging in the base unit, which means when your handset battery goes dead, your stuck with the base speaker phone. With the Motorola you can purchase an additional battery and stick it in the base unit, so when your handset gets low, you can switch out batteries and carry on.

Speaker phones for both are very clear and loud enough, and both phones have mute for both base and handset, although the mute button on the panasonic base is a little too close to the speaker on/off button. There was a couple times I hit the speaker button when I meant to hit the mute button, thus ending my call when all I wanted to do was mute it. The Motorola has the speaker on/off in the lower middle of the base unit, and the mute is in the upper right lcd display, so no chance of accidentlly hitting it by mistake. The speaker on the handset for both systems were good, although the Motorola was great: nice and loud, I could hear it from the other room! One oddness: The Motorola handset speaker will NOT operate when a headset is plugged into it, while the panasonic will. I usually leave my headset plugged into the handset, but sometimes I want to temporarily put the speaker on while I am doing something. This makes it a pain with the motorola handset.

Phone books: The panasonic has shared phone book for base and handsets, while the motorola has separate ones for each handset as well as the base (If you key a number into the base unit, you will also have to key the same number in each handset as well! That's a pain in my book.)

Range: Both had good range, I could easily walk around my two-story house and never lose signal.

Belt Clip: Motorola handset's battery cover juts out, and you have about 1/16th of an inch space between the belt clip and the battery cover. I found it hard to clip the unit onto my pants, as the battery cover interfered quite a bit.

Misc: Motorola has a time display on the handset, but, oddly enough, not on the base unit (which has a nice LCD display window), while the panasonic has no time display at all. Both displays are clear and easy to read for the most part, with motorola choosing the nice cobalt blue ligthing, while panasonic goes for the more common yellow-orange kind of lighting.

Summary: Overall, both systems appeared to be very nice. If you can handle the handset not working near the base for the panasonic, then I'd say either system is good.

In the first place, I must comment about the weirdness of product reviews on the Internet. Some people love a product, other people hate a product. Can't be the same product, can it? Who knows. These 5.8 phones are no different. Given the contradictory nature of the reviews, it seems difficult to make an informed decision.

Yet I will cheerfully add my opinion to the mix.

Having recently had my prior phone system die, I decided to step up to 5.8 to avoid interference with my wireless network. Not that I ever had interference before, but hey, you never know, in the future I might. A little preventative paranoia never hurt anyone.

After reading countless Amazon reviews and getting fed up with the love-it hate-it paradoxes, I paid a visit to my local brick and mortar electronics store to actually look at these things in person. Feeling more informed though I wasn't really, I decided to order the new Motorola 761 and one expansion handset. It looked cool, felt rugged, and sounded good. But it had lousy range and after three days the expansion handset died. So I decided to try a different brand.

That's when I bought the Panasonic 5230 (and one expansion handset). As far as I can tell, all the phones in the 5200 series have basically the same guts with a few different features. The 5230 has a speakerphone in the base and a button that automatically dials my voice mail. The talking caller ID feature seemed appealing too, but as other reviewers have pointed out, you'll end up turning it off because it just sounds so silly. Though it may come in handy for a few quick laughs at a party.

Overall, so far so good. The phones sound great at both ends. Now how can this be when so many other reviewers say otherwise? Inconsistent quality control seems the most likely possibility. Or maybe there was a consistent problem that Panasonic just recently fixed. Or maybe some users are getting interference they aren't aware of. Who knows? My handsets both sound great at both ends, and I've tested them thoroughly.

I also don't have the problem described in some reviews of poor sound quality when I'm near the base. In fact, I had someone else stand literally inches from the base and call me at work. Then I had them move around. Nothing changed the superb sound quality at both ends. However, I'm not using the voice enhancer or clarity booster features. I wonder if those features are causing some people problems.

Now again I ask - why is it that my phones work fine right next to the base when so many other reviewers have had this type of problem with the 5200 series? Again the same possible reasons apply. Honestly I have no idea. To paraphrase Lee Iococca: mine works fine, to hell with you. (Lee said something similar about the very first Dodge Viper, VIN #1, which he took for himself. But I'm just kidding.)

The other aspects of these phones I think most reviewers agree on: great features, ease of use, blah blah blah. Quality seems to be the problem for Panasonic right now, so maybe I just got lucky with a rare good pair of phones, or maybe some people are just getting unlucky with rare bad ones. Bear in mind I've only had this system for three days, which was exactly how long it took for the Motorola expansion handset to commit hari-kari, so who knows, I may be back with a follow-up review denouncing Panasonic quality control as a corporate manifestation of Satan himself.

But so far, so good.

After researching the options in expandable systems I narrowed my choices to Panasonic KX-TG5230M and Motorola MD-671. So this review is also a comparison of the two.
Handset Sound Quality: I found Motorola to have the best sound quality of any cordless I've ever used. It was rivaling the sound of a corded phone and it was much better than the good sounding 900MHz and 2.4GHz phones I currently own. Panasonic, on the other hand, while not terrible - had a muffled sound and the callers on the other end found its sound muted compared to my other phones. I even exchanged the first set thinking that it could be defective. The voice enhancer provided only a marginal improvement.
Speakerphone Sound Quality: Both bases were excellent. Handsets performed identical to earpiece mode.
Range: I was disappointed with both. I would estimate it at about 80 feet. Both units lost the signal as I approached the front of a neighbor's house. Panasonic did a little better but not by much.
System Wide Features: Nether system excels but this is one area where Panasonic is a clear winner. With Motorola the concept of the phone system appears to be an after-thought. Essentially all it has is an intercom between handsets and a base and the ability to transfer calls. But you cannot rename the handsets, so you have to memorize where Handset N is. Everything else is individual to each piece. There is no way to share phonebook entries between handsets and only the base has the voicemail indicator.
Panasonic expands on Motorola with a room monitor feature and voicemail indicators on handsets. In addition, the handsets IDs are customizable. While I would prefer the base as a central phone book repository, Panasonic at least has the ability to copy phonebook entries between handsets.

As for the looks, I prefer Panasonic multicolor design and overall shape. Motorola looks good by itself but next to Panasonic it appears cheap. However, if you plan to wall mount the base Panasonic's design is less than optimal. Ergonomically I found Motorola slim but long handset very comfortable. Panasonic was also good but for longer conversations I preferred Motorola. Both phones rely heavily on menus and soft keys but Panasonic offers more essential hard keys its menus are more intuitive and easier to navigate. Panasonic's base is shallow on features with no LCD and thus no phonebook ability. I don't think talking caller ID compensates for this omission. Motorola's base has its own LCD and phonebook, but lacks the programmable key to call voice mail. In addition, Motorola base can accepts an optional backup battery that allows the system to operate during power outages.
Motorola systems can be extended to six handsets. Panasonic is limited to four.

In the end, I cannot recommend either system. Motorola's gets kudos for the excellent sound quality but falls short on system wide features and clunky interface. Panasonic's poor sound quality nullifies the otherwise nice expandable system.

I needed at 5.8 GHz phone to work with my wireless network. I do thorough research on these types of items and I'm happy I chose the KX-TG5230.

I looked at it originally because I like the looks, affordable price (it was one sale) and most of the features. When I went to stores to compare it I liked it even more. The Motorola phones are not attractive and the AT& T models are quite a bit heavier. And I didn't like the Uniden or or VTech models as they just looked and felt cheap. This is just my opinion, decide for yourself.

Getting the phone for a very long house I immediately checked the range, even going outside. It works as good or better than hoped for and I'm very happy with my purchase. My internet works much better now without the 2.4 phone and I don't have any problems with people hearing me; and this is in a 1920's era house.

I think the Voice Enhancer feature is fantastic - it's like talking to someone face-to-face. I also like the message waiting feature where the tip of the phone blinks.

I really like this phone and look at my other reviews (and the other reviews here) to see if I'm legitimate or just a plant. I don't need a phone to be important to me - I just need it to talk to people without any problems. I've had it over a month and am VERY happy with it. Good bang for the buck.

Save yourself the time and trouble - over the past month (August 2004) I have tried the latest models of just about every major brand that offers 5.8 ghz multi-handset cordless phones - Uniden, V-Tech, AT&T (made by V-Tech), Motorola, and Panasonic. Each of these phones is nice in its own way, but only the Panasonic had enough range to receive and send clearly from one end of the house to the other. Granted my house is a little large (3,600 square feet, all one one level), but the other brands maxed out about 2/3rds of the way through the house. I do have a WiFi network in the house, and had no interference issues from that with any of these brands. I do wish the Panasonic could expand to a total of more than just 4 handsets, but that is a minor issue. Those big honking twin antennae on the base unit seem to actually work.